able to look, in increasing measure, to co-operative and other organisations for assistance in the distribution of seed, they must, for a long time to come, depend mainly on their own exertions for the development of this work. We have expressed the view that a considerable increase in the number of such farms, both departmental and private, is very desirable in all provinces and that such farms should be established as rapidly as funds permit. There is no branch of the activities of the agricultural departments which brings them in closer touch with the cultivator than the distribution of pure seed. This is work which is eminently calculated to induce in him a frame of mind which makes him ready to listen to suggestions that he should adopt other agricultural improvements. For this reason, we see no objection to the seed farm being used also as a demonstration farm, provided that its primary purpose is not detrimentally affected thereby. Indeed, there are positive advantages in its being so utilised. The seed farm affords special opportunities to the cultivator of seeing the extent to which the adoption of improved methods of cultivation or the use of manures can improve the outturn of the seed issued to him. The policy of using the seed farm for demonstration purposes has been specially successful in the Central Provinces and to it must be largely attributed the fact that the distribution of improved seed in that province is on a larger scale than it is elsewhere. 134. The question whether departmental farms should pay their way has been frequently discussed. Farms which have been established solely for experimental work cannot be expected to do so. Receipts are an entirely secondary consideration in their case. In Chapter IV, we have stated our view that the work of seed distribution has reached a stage at which it may legitimately be expected to pay its way. We consider, therefore, that seed farms should, ordinarily, be expected to be at least self-supporting, so far as their seed work is concerned. Where a demonstration farm has been established to demonstrate the possibility of commercial farming, it is obviously failing in its purpose if it does not yield a substantial profit. Where district and tehsil farms exist to further what may be termed the general propagandist work of the department, we do not consider it essential that receipts should cover the whole expenditure which a commercial accountant would debit to it. Every visitor to a departmental farm should be told whether such farm is, or is not, expected to pay its way, and should be given the reasons for the policy adopted. A short printed statement should be prepared and handed to all who inspect the farm. FINANCIAL RETURN FROM DEPARTMENTAL SHORT COURSES ON GOVERNMENT FARMS. 135. It is generally agreed that the provision of short courses in particular subjects on government farms is an admirable method of popularising desirable agricultural practices. The objections to demonstration work on experimental farms apply equally to their use for this purpose. If short courses are held on them, special care must be taken, on the one hand, to ensure that the success of the experiments is not endangered and, on the other hand, that the cultivator should not be misled by the experimental THE TION PLOT. DEMONSTRA character of the work on these farms. Whilst we do not consider that there would be any justification for establishing demonstration farms to promote this form of educational activity, we concur in the view that short courses for cultivators given on demonstration or seed farms provide an excellent opportunity for the establishment of closer touch between the agricultural departments and the cultivator. Where these courses are given, they should be assigned as a definite duty to a particular member of the staff of the farm. They should not be regarded as work which can be carried out in such time as the farm superintendent can spare from his other duties. We mention this point as we found, in one province, that the work had hitherto been carried out in a somewhat haphazard manner, though steps were being taken to rectify this. It may be desirable to attract cultivators to such courses by the payment of a small stipend as is done in Burma or to erect quarters for them as is proposed in the United Provinces, but these are matters which can best be determined in the light of the local demand. As in the case of short courses given at the agricultural colleges, we consider that the courses given on the farms should ordinarily terminate in a formal test which should, so far as the nature of the subject permits, be of a practical character. 136. The methods adopted in carrying out demonstrations on the cultivator's own fields are not the same in all provinces. Broadly speaking, one of two systems is adopted. Under the system which is favoured in Bengal, Bombay, Madras and the Punjab, the cultivation is carried on by the cultivator himself from start to finish under the close supervision of the agricultural demonstrator. Where new implements are being tried, these are lent without charge. Where the advantages of improved seeds or manures are being demonstrated, these are usually given free in the first instance. A cultivation sheet, in which all expenditure is noted, is kept not only for the demonstration plot but also for an adjacent plot of equal size on which cultivation is carried out by the local methods. The cultivator himself supplies the data for the profit and loss account thus maintained which, at the end of the demonstration, shows the exact monetary gain which has been secured by the adoption of the improvement. Under the other system, which is that favoured in the Central Provinces and the United Provinces, the Agricultural Department hires the land on which the demonstration is carried out. In the United Provinces, the area taken up varies from half an acre to an acre in extent. In the Central Provinces, the area of the plot is approximately that which the local cultivator would normally cultivate. The plots in the United Provinces are retained for a year. The demonstrator is provided with bullocks, improved ploughs and all the necessary tools for cultivation in order that there may be as little interference as possible with the ordinary routine of the village. Labour is supplied by the part-time work of a few intelligent village youths, who ultimately become fieldmen and propagandists themselves. In the Central Provinces, work on the same plot is carried on for five years and is then closed down. During that period, the plot is farmed by the departmental staff in the manner recommended by the department for the area in which it is situated. It should be mentioned that, in the Central Provinces, demonstrations directed to specific points are also carried out by the cultivator himself under the supervision of the agricultural demonstrator. The advantage of the method adopted in the Central Provinces and in the United Provinces is that, as the work is carried on by the departmental staff throughout, more reliance can be placed on the data which are collected in the course of the demonstration. The advantage of the method adopted in the other provinces is that, as all the work is done by the cultivator himself, he is placed in a better position to realise the true value of the improvement which is being demonstrated. The adoption of this method is, therefore, more calculated to leave a lasting impression on the individual. Both systems have much to recommend them and we consider that both might well be adopted in all provinces and the results compared. AGAINST LOSS. 137. In Bengal and Bombay, the cultivator whose land is used for the GUARANTEE purposes of demonstration is guaranteed against any loss which may result. We were informed that, whilst no specific guarantee against loss is given in Burma, there is an implied guarantee that, should the demonstration unexpectedly end in failure, the cultivator will not suffer thereby. It would seem that the agricultural departments in these provinces have very seldom, if ever, had to incur any expenditure under the guarantee. Indeed, if it had been otherwise, it would have been tantamount to a confession of failure on their part, as it would have meant that the improvement had not been properly tested before it was recommended for incorporation in general agricultural practice. On the whole, we are inclined to doubt the wisdom of giving a guarantee in these cases and a guarantee should only be given if, without it, demonstration plots are not procurable. The exact appraisement of any loss incurred is a matter of considerable difficulty and the existence of a guarantee may furnish motives for dishonest practices. Even if no guarantee is given, some compensation should, of course, be made if, for any reason, failure in the methods adopted involves the cultivator in loss. 138. There is no respect in which the short courses, the establishment DEMONSTRATION OF of which on government farms we have recomIMPROVED IMPLEMENTS. mended in paragraph 135 above, should prove of more value than in promoting the use of improved implements, more especially if they include instruction not only in the use of the implements but also, as they do at the Lyallpur Agricultural College, in their repair. For the reasons we have given in Chapter IV, propaganda in favour of improved implements is probably the most difficult part of this branch of the work of the agricultural departments. The work on the demonstration plot or demonstration farm can well be supplemented by peripatetic demonstrations. The agricultural demonstrator can, and should, put his improved plough or improved implement on a bullock cart, take it out into the area round the plot, or the farm, and there demonstrate its advantages. A travelling lorry could be utilised in this class of work where, and as soon as, suitable roads exist. In such cases, the officer in charge of the lorry would take with him a supply of spare parts, in addition to a supply of the implements or an example of the machinery it was proposed to demonstrate, for we would repeat that there is no greater obstacle to an extension of the use of improved implements and machinery than inability to obtain spare parts immediately they are required. He should, also, be accompanied by an instructor, who would teach the village smiths how to fit new parts and make adjustments and repairs. In this connection, we consider it possible that the use of the more expensive implements and machinery might extend more rapidly if suitable arrangements for hiring them out could be made, either by the agricultural departments or by the manufacturers in consultation with the departments. This appears to be the best method of overcoming the obstacle presented by the capital expenditure involved in outright purchase or even in payments due under the instalment or hire purchase system. That much can be done in this direction has been shown by the extent to which the iron sugarcane mills and boiling pans manufactured and hired out by Messrs. Renwick are now used in Bengal and Bihar. The firm charges a considerable hiring fee but at the same time makes arrangements for the prompt replacement of any parts that may be broken, with the result that their implements are now to be found wherever sugarcane is grown in Bengal and Bihar. AGRICULTURAL SHOWS. 139. As successful research must be the basis of successful demonstration, so successful demonstration must be the basis of all the propagandist work of the agricultural departments. It cannot be too strongly emphasised that all other forms of propagandist activity can only supplement ocular demonstrations whether they are carried out on government farms or on the cultivator's own fields. No other form of propaganda can furnish a satisfactory substitute for demonstration. It can, at best, merely provide a method of following it up. One such method which is being increasingly made use of by the agricultural departments is that of the agricultural show. The participation of the agricultural departments in shows takes various forms. It may take the form of an agricultural show for a whole province, as it did in the case of the very successful show at Poona, which we visited in October, 1926, or that of a smaller show for a part of a province or even a single district or tehsil. Such shows may be organised by the department itself or, with its assistance, by outside bodies such as a district board. Participation may, again, be confined to the organisation of an agricultural stall, or an exhibit at a show of a wider character, or at one of the big fairs or festivals which are so common in India. Such shows, as has frequently been pointed out, provide a valuable means of demonstrating to a large crowd of people either improved methods or improved produce which it is desirable that they should know about, of creating local enthusiasm and of bringing a larger number of cultivators into touch with the staff of the agricultural departments than could, otherwise, be collected together. The evidence we received, and also the instances which came under our personal observation at Poona, Dacca and Lyallpur, show that the agricultural departments are fully alive to the value of this form of propaganda and that care is taken to make their demonstrations and exhibits both attractive and instructive. The exhibition of livestock is more effective than that of produce though the latter cannot be omitted, and demonstrations of the actual working of machinery and implements are essential, if a show is to be a success, but they should be limited to a demonstration of such machinery and implements as are suitable to the tract in which the show is held. Again, it is, obviously, no use attracting attention or arousing enthusiasm unless this is followed up in every possible way. More use might be made of markets in this connection and a permanent agricultural stall should form a prominent feature of the regulated markets, the establishment of which we have recommended in our chapter on Communications and Marketing. If shows are to yield their full effect in educating opinion. among local cultivators, it is essential that they should be held year after year, if not at one centre, at least in the same part of the country. In such matters as the improvement of cattle, it is only by the cumulative effect of a succession of shows that any lasting influence can be established over the policy of breeders. In order to secure the continuity recommended, it will be desirable to make every effort to secure from profits and from private donations a surplus from which could be formed, for each tract, a fund to be carried on from year to year to defray the preliminary expenses of the shows. The arrangements to be made for this purpose will necessarily depend upon local circumstances. A taluka development association, agricultural association, or other collective body interested in agriculture would be the natural trustees of the fund. In cases, however, where additional financial assistance was needed, we think that, if the provincial Government were satisfied with the management of the shows, a contribution from provincial revenues to the fund would be fully justified. Further, with a view to popularising the shows, we consider that railway companies should issue cheap tickets, as a matter of course, and without waiting for an application from the organisers. As regards prizes at agricultural shows, experience has shown that medals are greatly valued by the recipients. These, however, should only be given sparingly and for exhibits of outstanding excellence. For ordinary exhibits, prizes are better given in kind than in money; for example, in the case of exhibits of cattle, the prize might suitably be an improved plough or other agricultural implement. PUBLICATIONS. 140. Varying views as to the usefulness of publications are held in the different provinces. In some provinces, it is considered that vernacular leaflets, even when confined, as they should be, to an explanation in the simplest possible language of one point, and of one point only, are of little value. In other provinces, great use is made of them. In Madras, 120,000 copies of a leaflet on the single-seedling planting of paddy have been issued and other |